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Cleanup begins on campus after an onslaught of heavy storms Flooding, downed trees affect UC Davis campus as storms continue

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VOLUME 146, ISSUE 12 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 19, 2023

What Davis’s new city council plans to achieve after November election

Newcomer Vaitla and incumbent Partida sworn into office on Jan. 15

BY SYDNEY AMESTOY campus@theaggie.org The UC Davis campus and surrounding area sustained damage as a result of heavy storms in Northern California throughout the first two weeks of the new year, and cleanup efforts are now underway. Seventy-four trees had fallen on campus as of Jan. 9, according to Katie Hetrick, the communications director for UC Davis Grounds and Landscape services. A large eucalyptus tree fell and caused damage to Kemper Hall, and three cork oaks came down on Mrak Hall. “Winds came through the campus from the east, a direction unusual in this area,” Hetrick said. “Our winds usually come from the south, a condition our trees have grown up experiencing and preparing their roots for.” UC Davis Grounds and Landscape Services, in collaboration with groundskeepers for the Arboretum and Putah Creek Riparian Reserve, are currently leading the cleanup efforts across campus. According to Hetrick, this effort will likely take months to complete. “Clearing efforts are happening simultaneously [with the storms],” Hetrick said. “Before the majority of students arrived back on campus, downed trees and large messes of debris were cleared from student housing areas, major pathways and storm drains. But the overall cleanup effort is going to take months and will include irrigation system restoration where uprooted trees have damaged infrastructure and

landscape renovations.” Minor flooding in parts of the Arboretum did occur, according to Hetrick, but there was not any significant damage to the area because groundskeeping teams prioritized clearing storm drains of debris during and after storms. According to a recent UC Davis press release, many student residence halls lost power sporadically during the first couple weeks of January, including all of the Cuarto buildings. The Green also experienced power outages and some smaller downed trees, but no other major damage, according to The Green’s Director Marshall Walters. “One of our buildings lost power on two separate occasions, for about 15 hours each occurrence,” Walters said. “The electricity outage, in turn, caused residents to lose hot water, WiFi and power to the exterior doors.” Power has since been restored to all residence halls as well as at The Green, according to the release. Hetrick said that campus facilities largely retained power throughout the storms because their power lines run underground and are therefore protected from the risk of falling trees. Despite not losing power at any point during the storms, the Memorial Union (MU) did experience some water damage as a result of the rain. “We did have spots of isolated leaking in the east hallway, the Coffee House dining [area] and by the door leading to the MU South Patio,” Janna

Tolla, the director of the MU, said. “[We] will therefore need ceiling tiles replaced and likely some patches sealed up on the roof.” According to Tolla, the MU weathered the storm well in part due to preventative measures taken to clear leaves from its drains and gutters during fall quarter by Facilities Management. “I can’t emphasize how much we rely on them and how thankful I am that they were here in between storms to care for campus and the Memorial Union,” Tolla said. Over the past few years, the UC Davis Campus Planning office and the Arboretum and Public Garden team have jointly created a long-term plan known as the UC Davis Living Landscape Adaptation Plan (LLAP) to help prepare campus landscaping for extreme weather events and environmental changes in the future, according to Hetrick. “Students in the Arboretum and Public Garden’s Learning by Leading program are already at the center for many of these efforts, including helping with the planting of 200 trees last year,” Hetrick said. According to the Arboretum website, the LLAP includes “strategies to transition our tree canopy, enhance the biodiversity of our landscapes [and] secure sustainable water sources.” Hetrick said that this plan was created with storms like the ones the past few weeks in mind.

A tree fell on the egghead outside Mrak Hall during the New Years Eve storm. (Gregory Urquiaga / Courtesy)

City Council Elections are held in the Davis City Hall. (Kayla Bruckman / Aggie)

BY MADELEINE YOUNG city@theaggie.org On Dec. 1, the Davis City Council election results were released, with Bapu Vaitla and Gloria Partida winning districts one and four with 59.7% and 62.4% of the total votes, respectively. Both Vaitla and Partida shared similar platforms advocating for affordable housing, as well as addressing homelessness and climate change. Vaitla spoke about his goals for the city, which include building new housing units to address housing issues in the district. “What I hope to achieve is [that] we have a target for affordable housing,” Vaitla said. “By the end of the decade, we need to build this housing unit. So over the next four years, I want us to get at least halfway toward that target. I also want to arrive at zero functional homelessness by the end of four years.” Jackson Mills, a third-year student and the director of political affairs for the Davis College Democrats talked about his experience working for Partida. “It was a pleasure to work with Councilmember Partida this past election cycle,” Mills said. “She was facing a challenger, so we really tried to go all-in with our support. Even though the atmosphere surrounding the election was often quite tense, Ms. Partida and her campaign did their best to foster a positive environment for everyone involved in her reelection efforts, and I think it clearly paid off.” Similarly to Vaitla, Partida campaigned with a strong emphasis on housing policies. Mills talked about how he believes Partida is prepared to address the housing issue in Davis. “Her policy beliefs and actions on housing and homelessness demonstrate her compassion for the community, particularly for its most vulnerable

and marginalized groups,” Mills said. “She understands that these problems are linked and must be dealt with as such. The cries of a vocal group of Davis residents trying constantly to stymie necessary homelessness prevention measures and affordable housing development are no match for Ms. Partida’s commitment to building a more inclusive, affordable and restorative community.” Siyona Roychourdhury, a first-year political science major who interns at the Davis Journal of Legal Studies, also shared her excitement to have Partida reelected. “The city of Davis, California may seem small or insignificant sometimes,” Roychourdhury said. “Therefore, we may not believe that its politics are important to the grand scheme of things. However, Gloria Partida, the first Latina mayor of Davis, has had more of an impact than most know. She represents the advancement of women of color in modern politics; she has paved the way for more to come after her.” COUNCIL on 3 DONATE TO THE AGGIE

Medication abortions are now available through UC Davis Student Health

California Senate Bill 24 further protects students’ reproductive rights amid the overturn of Roe v. Wade BY MARIA MARTINEZ CASTRO features@theaggie.org The new year has brought a new wave of laws to California, some of them pertaining to reproductive rights. As of Jan. 1, in conjunction with Senate Bill (SB) 24, which passed in 2019 and went into effect at the start of 2023, University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) campuses are required to provide medication abortion to students in their student health centers. Medication abortion is a safe and effective way to terminate an early pregnancy by taking two pills less than 11 weeks into a pregnancy. Indira D’Souza, a fourth-year global disease biology major and president of Students for Reproductive Freedom (SRF) at UC Davis, said SB 24 is impactful on students’

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reproductive rights. “SB 24 [is] a really awesome bill [that] passed in 2019, requiring CSU and UC campuses to provide medication abortion or abortion pills for students at their student health centers,” D’Souza said. “There was a study at UCSF that found that implementing this bill will impact about 6,000 students. So, I think that makes a huge difference across all of our campuses.” Stephanie Ha, a fourth-year human development major and sexual wellbeing student coordinator at the UC Davis LoveLab, said that SB 24 allows students to make decisions about their bodies and reproductive health. “We think it’s very important to be inclusive and credible resources for all UC Davis students so that they can make decisions that are best for themselves in their own bodies and in their own lives,” Ha said. “For Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS) to provide medication abortion allows students to make these decisions for themselves.” The LoveLab, a mobile cart located on the third floor of the Student Health and Wellness Center, provides safer sex products such as condoms and dental dams. Additionally, the LoveLab focuses on sharing educational information, as well as promoting reproductive health services, such as those in the SHCS center. Students can access long-acting reversible contraceptives such as the ring and IUDs at the SHCS center, according to Blake Flaugher, a sexual well-being specialist in health education and promotion within student health and counseling. There is an additional cost to contraceptives for students not insured by SHIP.

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE Both the LoveLab and SRF acknowledge that conversations around sexual health and reproductive rights are often deemed taboo. However, as supporters of bodily autonomy and sexual well-being, both entities understand that having these conversations is crucial in creating a safe environment for students, according to Alison Khan, a fourthyear human development major and LoveLab sexual well-being student coordinator. “We say to just talk about it,” Khan said. “Everyone can learn about sexual and reproductive health and the barriers and stigmas surrounding these topics through reliable sources such as the LoveLab. By learning more

and talking about these [topics], we can bring awareness to reproductive rights issues and support students and reproductive rights.” SRF starts these conversations in weekly meetings and at tabling events. “We definitely want to make people not just aware but feel comfortable talking about abortion and sexual health in their everyday life,” D’Souza said. “It doesn’t have to be like this taboo, forbidden thing that someone has to be ashamed about.” In light of the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, people have started to wonder about the future of reproductive rights across the country, as it is changing state by state. “We have seen an increase in the

number of students who reach out with questions about birth control and abortion access,” Ha said. D’Souza says having medical abortion access on campuses for students is highly beneficial. While at universities, many students face more responsibilities and restrictions than they are used to. Some students might have multiple jobs or have unreliable access to transportation that could prevent them from accessing abortion services outside campus boundaries. “The first [benefit] is that students get access,” D’Souza said. “Many students at universities, especially at UC Davis, don’t have cars. We bike everywhere [...] so, [SB 24] creates access within really close distance. While people are going about their lives, they can also go to the health center and receive abortion and necessary healthcare if they need it.” SB 24 implementation also creates a benefit for individuals that have been denied access to abortion services in other states. “[Medication abortion on campuses] also frees up some of those appointments for people who are coming from out of state,” D’Souza said. “Because of the fall of Roe v. Wade, we’re seeing an influx of people coming from other states into California, Oregon and Washington. It’s really important that we expand access, like on UC campuses, so that we are accessing abortions here.” While SB 24 does make medical abortion more available to students at UC Davis, D’Souza explained that given the university’s resources, UC Davis could do even more to expand their abortion services. ABORTIONLAWS on 3